Calgary’s Olympic Oval cancels international races due to coronavirus

Calgary’s Olympic speedskating oval has cancelled a pair of international events due to the international outbreak of the new coronavirus.

The long-track Grand Prix scheduled for March 14-15 and the oval’s long-track finale March 19-22 have been called off.

Although not as competitively significant as a World Cup, the oval’s season-ending events draw international competitors as well as several members of the Canadian team.

A pair of domestic Canada Cup short-track and long-track events will go ahead March 13 and March 19, respectively.

“To compete, Canadian athletes and their coaches/support staff should be free from any illness symptoms for a minimum of 14 days and have not travelled through countries on the UCalgary restricted list, which currently includes China, Hong Kong, Japan, Iran, Italy, South Korea and Singapore,” the oval said in a statement Friday.

COVID-19 has cancelled and impacted dozens of sporting events around the world.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2020.